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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22382788">Pandora's Box</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bucky Barnes Feels, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Mutant Powers, Protective Bucky Barnes, Roughness, Sex, Super Soldier Serum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:46:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,292</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22382788</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Times have changed, great heroes are gone, and all that remains is wreckage and lives to start over.<br/>After an alleged terrorist attack, Bucky is taken back to the past. With nightmares still vivid in his mind, he must choose between succumbing to fear, or standing before him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Warnings: smut | angst | mentions! abuse / rape / torture | Bucky / OC +18</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The bad dreams were not gone yet, no matter how much time passed. He squirmed on the bed, still unconscious, stirring in the dawn as if the weight of the world fell upon him. A shrill and terribly familiar scream filled the air, so close that even though it couldn't be identified, it made him cringe intead of waking up. His breath came in heavy puffs when panic enveloped him, his hands deperately searching on something — anything — to hold onto while he felt the ground tilting, threatening to throw him into the abyss the he knew it was just inched away. But there was nothing to cling but the soft fabric of the sheets beneath him that were already almost on the floor. And then, as suddenly as it started, the hooks that were hissing from the weight stopped, being replaced by slight click-clack sounds.</p><p><br/>He was on that damned train once again. The next second, an explosion and the fire engulfed everything around him.</p><p><br/>His eyes darted open to the cold darkness and he rolled back to the middle of the bed, his arm going up to cover his eyes as he tried to let that fucking nightmare aside. His pulse started to slow and the blood pumping in his ears were giving him the worst headache. His chest heaved for oxygen as he tried to control his anxiety, remembering that it wasn't the first time he had panicked during a dream, let alone would be the last. His head spun with the vivid details still fresh under his eyelids: the sound of metal scraping metal, the wind roaring agaist the wagon sides. The ground disappearing and giving way to an icy chasm.</p><p>He remembered being fallen in the snow, almost passing out by the ache that pulsed throug his body when his ears captured the sound of footsteps dragging trough the snow. He sighed in relief for thinking that it was Steve coming to his rescue. Only to find out that it wasn't Steve. There were more than three guys, all of them speaking a foreign language. And only when it came to him what language was that the tears flooded his eyes and he cried like a baby. Bucky Barnes has never been so terrified in his life. And he had a reason. Although, that explosion was something very new. That fire was never there before.</p><p>His vision was still a bit blurred, but he could make out Sam's silhouette, dressed and equipped, screaming at his door.</p><p>"Bombs. Not far. Fury thinks is a terrorist attack. Let's go!"</p><p>Bucky rubbed his eyes hard and yawned, his hands roaming the bed after the shirt he wore last night before going to bed. It was a little too late when they received a notification from the local cops. A small residential building was on fire, three explosions did the job and now the firefighters could not contain it. Bucky is frowning, both from the nightmare and the selfish tought that the police could have handled a smal fire on it's own that he knew he shouldn't be having.</p><p>However, his expression shifted quickly when he saw the red-orange glow and the dark smoke filling the sky from afar.</p><p>
  <em>The choices we made are the ones that leads us to different paths, each decision is a curve, they can bring us closer or farther away from the end. The fate, still, works within its own rules. It has always been like that, fate is traced since our birth.</em>
</p><p>The fire department chief explained in details what happened since the beginning and what they needed to do, but Bucky wasn't paying any attention. His heart was throbbing against his ribcage, not quite undertanding what was that and why his legs were moving towards the bulding on they own. The place was the enbodiment of hell itself. Hot, red and suffocating; flames licking the walls and turning to ash everything in its path. He wrinkled his nose when the unmistakable scent from burnt human flesh reached him. Approaching the main hall where a small group tried to fight the fire, he looke up and then to the base of the stairs. On the floor, some debris fell on bodies that were already charred.</p><p>"Buck!" Sam yells from the door when he realizes that his partner is running up the stairs without looking back, like he was hypnotized. "Fuck, Barnes!".</p><p>Bucky is now surrounded by the fire, the estructure giving in under his feat faster and faster as he approaches the top floor. The crackling of the flames are the only other sound beside his heart pounding in his ears. It is so hot he can barely breathe and the air is so toxic he can feel the smoke clinging into his lungs.</p><p>Finally, he finds it. What his heart — or instinct — is looking for. The last door in the hallway, the one that has been in his head since he set foot in that street, who knows why. Without hesitation, he kicks the door open, splitting the weak wook in two halfs. The smoke is so concentrated on those four walls he could barely see two feet ahead. The kitchen and living room were empty, the roof lining left no room from anyone to hide in the bathroom. And then he hears it. A low sob coming from the remaining room.<br/>The girl was sitting in the corner beside the bed, the fire almost reaching her, but she seemed to be ignoring everything around her. Her eyes staring at a fixed point on the opposite wall, they don't move when Bucky enter the room and comes closer, but thick tears spill out like waterfall in her sooty cheeks. She was hugging her knees, rocking her body back and forth, shaking compulsively. Bucky dropped to his knees and crawled close to her. He knew that the smaller he seemed, the less chance he had to frighten her even more.</p><p>Now, face to face, his expression lit up in recognition. His heart skipped a beat when the girl's eyes strayed from the wall to face his, making him fall back with the sudden movement.</p><p>Somewhere outside her window, Sam was observing, not undertanding what was all that about. "Come on, Barnes! Get her outta there!" He screams.</p><p>As if his brain clicked back to reality, the Soldier realizes what is happening around them and uses a blanked he found on the ground to wrap the girl's small body and move it more carefully. She does not refure, nor does she tries to resist. She just let herself be carried away by him.</p><p>Bucky sixth sense comes to realization when is already too late. They hadn't even get to the window when the fourth explosion came. The entire top floor went down. Sam was launched into the air and Bucky has flied all the way to the ground, out of breath and coughing blood. The girl was on the other sidewalk, next to the remaining residents, covered in dirt and her own blood. She was looking dead into the sky with a faint smile on her bruised lips.</p><p>Sam rushes to his friend, taking off his head gears to get a better view of Bucky's wounds up close. He put his head against his tights and tried to keep the Soldier awake.</p><p>"What the fuck was that, Barnes?!" He asks, desperately calling for help. Wanda and Clint were already on their way. Bucky stared at him with unfocused eyes, his face covered in soot and drops of blood.</p><p>The sun behind them was rising at a lazy pace, but was strong enough for Sam to get a look at his partner's face better. Bucky was smirking.</p><p>"I... I know... Her" He says. Is hard to breathe when you can't feel your own lungs, you know?</p><p>"What?"</p><p>Sam was more concearned about the huge piece of rusty metal that is burried deep in Bucky's stomach. He pulls San by the collar.</p><p>"I know her" He says loudly and a bit harsh, then falls down, completely exhausted. His hole body ached.</p><p>"You'll be fine, pal" Sam murmurs softly</p><p>...</p><p>Later that morning, after all that ruckus, the fire was extinguished. Residents were relocated and the injuried were transportated to local hospitals. Bucky had used his body as a shield to protect the girl, in addition to hitting his head against the glass and getting a face full of shards, the huge cut in his belly, minor burns and superficial scratches, he also had fractured his collarbone. Sam and Fury were watching the two of them from the bedroom window. Both slept soundly.</p><p>"What are we going to do with her?" Sam asks and hand Fury a huge file. "The cops gave me her data and I found this little baby in the wreckage of her room", then handled over a thick folder, full of notes and reports. The red figure in the front made Fury sigh loudly.</p><p>"It seems that we have a very big problem at hand", Fury says, rubbing the crease that formed between his brows. "I'll analyze these files. You keep an eye on them until they wake up".</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sooo, I'm back and I saw that a good amount of people came to see my baby fic. For them, just a quick tip: I edited the whole prologue, so now is better than before.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing she noticed when her brain woke up was how cold her body was. The warm sunlight kissed her cheeks gently, seeping under her lashes and making her eyelids flutter open to a blinding white room. Observing her surroundings, she noticed she wasn't alone. A men was sitting next to her bed, a long forgotten book in his hands and low snores coming out of his parted lips. Her entire upper body ache when she tried to sit against the headboard silently. She stayed quiet, watching dust motes travel across the room in the early morning haze. It was a chilly one, for sure. Her last memories started to appear in quick flashes trough her head. She was sleeping peacefully when the first explosion startled everyone in the building, flames already taking over almost everything in the first round. And then a second and a third, and everything was chaos and smoke and her only wish was to crumble down with the building because, fuck, it was happening all over again. The the fourth explosion came, those strong arms that were holding her tight vanished in a split second and everything she knew was the hard ground and the iron taste on her tongue.</p><p></p><div>
  <p>"Good morning, sunshine", the man greets, throwing her off of her reveries. He stretched his arms up in the air, joints cracking all the way.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why am I here?" She asked under a troubled look. Her eyes darted to the window. From that level, all she could bring up was the Statue of Tony Stark resting above the fountain, his hand aiming at something beyond the horizon. She was in the new Stark Tower.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You know why", Sam answered. "Pandora, am I right? Like in the files?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The girl nodded once, her slender fingers tugging to the thin fabrid that covered her legs. The moment he called her by her codename, she knew she was doomed and he was already aware of everything she was and everything that was done to her. She wondered he knew a lot more than necessary when he swinged her personal diary in his hand before throwing at her side on the bed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I want you to see someone... Do you think you can walk?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Pandora nods once more and start dragging her feet off the bed's edge, startling herself by the purple marks all along her skin. It wasn't a pretty view. The first steps were difficult, like the ones of a newborn doe, she would have fallen instantly without  Sam's support on her waist. Side by side, they moved slowly towards the room next door.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Once Sam pushed the door open, her entire body tensed as if the blood in her veins had turned into ice. With her knees shaking, she stammered unconsciously:</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Zim... Zimniy s-soldat..." <strong>[Winter soldier]. </strong></p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>In his bed, Bucky's head moved to the side and his eyelids fluttered seconds before open slowly. His movements were lethargic by the sedatives.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Gotov soblyudat..." <strong>[Ready to comply].</strong> He flashes a weak smile, his voice nothing more but a growl and he focuse his blue irises on the terrified girl. "Nobody have called me that in a long time".</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Yeah, right. I call him asshole", Sam scoffed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Pandora, still petrified, let a diminish laugh scape before forgetting the excruciating pain that was rushing furiously trough her body and let herself collapse against the cold floor. Images of a long lost life before her freedom takes place, filling her mind and projecting painful memories that went straight trough her heart like daggers.‎ Fear hit her hard and suddenly she is out of breath and the floor underneath her seems to disappear. Choking and trying to collect herself hysterically from the ground, she end up falling back onto Sam's grip. He hugged her tight and hid her face against his chest without hesitation, hiding her. Pandora's entire body trembled to the point of chattering teeth, her knuckles already white from tugging his shirt between her fingers.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"It's okay, darling. Nobody's gonna hurt you", Sam assured, whispering with lips touching her hair. "I promise. You can trust me, can't you? I'm here with you, nothing's gonna hurt you".</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sam had seen many post-traumatic stress atacks, more so panic ones. He knew how to deal with it. With her. She was scared and feeling unsafe and probably triggered by whatever Bucky said to her in russian, kidding or not. The first thing he did was lift them both from the ground and place her small crooked figure onto the spare bad next to the wall and covered her with the biggest blanket he could find at the moment. He watched as she started to roll herself up in a messy coccon mode.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Don't worry, <em>Panda</em>. I'm gonna be here with you. Just breath, darling", Sam is now stroking long caresses across the girl's back. Bucky who had been silent trough the whole situation looked at her fondly, but there was still a hint of pain or guilt in his baby blue eyes. He knew he caused her that crisis. It was his fault. He desired to erase himself from her mind for a moment.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Almost an hour passed until Pandora was stable again. Her muscles were slowly untwining and letting her breathe properly, full deep inhales and long exhales to soothe her aching throat. Sam smiled when she looked at him with teary, but thankful eyes, but he kept his hand in motion caressing her for a while, observing how relaxed she was once she saw that were no danger. Not in him nor in the room or in Bucky's presence. She was now laying with face half buried in the sheets. looking dead into Bucky's figure like she was studying him.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Feeling better?" Sam finally asks, taking a step back from the bed. Pandora nods and looks at him. "I need to report to Fury and get you both some food. Think you can manage to be alone here with him for a moment?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I guess... Yeah."</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'll be back in a second then. Distract her, Barnes, will ya'?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Bucky waved at him and whitin a second Sam was out of their sight. The air tensed a bit with the sudden silence, she wasn't much of a talker, neither was him, but they kept the eye contact before Bucky broke the connection to take a look outside the window.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What happened to you?" Pandora's voice startles him, making him let out a chuckle begore putting his attention back on her. She was more mature, it was visible, there were some new scars, but still the same soft, childish features. Her question was short but complicated. He sighed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"A lot, after Hydra. They wanted me to murder Steve, but I just couldn't finish. He broke the brainwash and after that I started to remember. When everything crumbled down, I found a place to stay in Bucharest", He lost himself in his thoughts for a moment, looking at his metal fingers. "I started a routine, everything was about remember who I was and be invisible. Then, the enemies came... Zemo, he caused a lot of problems... Thanos and the war. I turned to dust when he snapped his fingers, but Steve and the others brought us back. We fought, we won. I'm very thankful for their help. Shuri, who erased Hydra's poison from my head. I wouldn't be nothing without them, probably dead by now".</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So did you nightmares stopped?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Bucky remembered his times under Hydra control once again, a specific moment, when he was in a cage. The girl next to him helped him sleep trough his nightmares that day. Pandora helped him even tho she was just as scared.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Those never go away. They're always there, lurking inside my head", He laughed. "The nightmares never were about the brainwash, but about what I did when I was their puppet".</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Pandora's eyes went to the ground. She understood him, her own nightmares almost drove her crazy most nights. She abused sleep pills and alcohol, but not even that made them go away. They would be always there. Her heart sinked into her chest for a second and then she heart his voice calling again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What about you?" He now had turned his body a bit to the side, for her to look at his front. The sheet went down a bit, showing his marked skin, so many scars in a tiny piece of him. A cold chill went down her spine.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I was always running. Everytime something would get out of control, I just ran away to another city, then another state, and another country until I end up in that apartament".</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Get out of control...?" He lifted his eyebrow and she licked her lips.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"The things like those explosions and the fire?" She let out a faint laugh. "I'm used to that happening all time. I bring disgrace to everyone around me and that's why you should let me get out of here as soon as possible. I wouldn't want to ruin your lives."</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You mean you started the fire? You caused the explosions?" He asked.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No. <em>God</em>, no. I... I didn't do anything is just... It happens around me, like I'm cursed or have this terribly bad luck", she shook her head. "I would never hurt anyone".</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Outside the room, Sam and Fury listened carefully to their conversation. They new eachother from another times and leaving them alone was the best idea Sam had to show his boss that the girls wasn't a threat. Fury continued to listen while reading the girl's diary carefully while Sam got out to get the food he promised. When he got back, his boss was watching both of Hydra's best agents talking about their periods of peace and chaos with his hands befind his back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You hungry?" Sam asked munching on a big piece of his own cheeseburguer before handing one in the other man's direction.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Fury refused with a hand gesture and handed over her diary. He need to know nothing more, that was more than necessary.</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We're keeping her".</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Excuse me?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p> </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Project 001: Pandora", He repeated slowly, with a mischievous smirk in his face. "We're keeping her."</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you enjoyed, please leave a kudo and a review bellow, it would help a lot.</p><p>See ya next chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm baaack, please have a good reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bucky found the girl in the room were they were in four days ago lost in her thougths. Both had already been discharged from the nursery and Sam already had informed her that she would have to stay with them at the Tower for a while, due to public security issues. She was standing by the window, the sun slowly setting behind the buildings, casting its golden light at her figure. Nat's old clothes fit her perfectly. </p><p>"Everything ready?" He asks. Pandora turns and crosses her arms at chest level, nodding as she walk over to him. "You okay?"</p><p>"Yeah, just... Thinking it's dangerous for you guys to have me around".</p><p>He quirked his head up a bit, she noticed how his hair was long, almost passing his shoulders. It suited him really good.</p><p>"Imagine that civilians will be safer if you are here, with us. We can handle the situation better than anyone."</p><p>"Maybe you're right", she agrees, following him out the room.</p><p>The way to the Tower's household is short and silent, broken only by the metal box hissing above their heads. It was settled in the last levels, an entire floor exclusive to their training. She went trough corridors and more corridors until Bucky ask her to wait on the outside of a wooden double door. Less than a minute later, he calls her name and she enters. In the large living room, at least ten heads are spread around, looking at her with a silent but deadly expectation. She approaches slowly, both hands hidden in the back pockets of her jeans. </p><p>"Hi", she says and bites her lip, trying to lift the attention that insisted on falling to her boots. They seemed much more interesting than a room full of strangers. They all greeted her at the same time and then the air stopped as if they held their breaths. Only Pandora cleared the unconfortable itch in her throat that everyone started to try and look relaxed and Sam, whom she recognized at distance, finally walked towards her. He grabbed her shoulders in a friendly way and bent his knees to match her height. </p><p>"They don't bite, I promise." Pandora smiles simply and shakes her head, feeling everyone's eyes on her. "I'll show you to your room". </p><p>He leaded her all the way trough the stairs to the next floor that was build entirely of rooms. It was a long, dark-colored corridor with at least four doors in each side. Her room was big; peach pink walls, light-wooden furniture, cream sheets and lots of plants hanging from the ceiling and the walls. There was a huge round mirror next to the dresser that he assumed she would like. Wanda helped him redecorate the room a bit, assuming the girl would like something clean and calming after all. </p><p>The instant Sam and Pandora disappeard into the corner, everyone started talking again, excited and a little suspicious. Wanda and Pepper exchanged a knowing look at the Sergeant who was still standing by the kitchen counter, staring at the empty space she was before. Peter, with flushed cheeks, put up with Rhodey's teasing for trying to talk to the new girl and ending up stuttering. Bucky shook his head in denial of all that unnecessary commotion and throwed himself into a free armchair to watch the buzz the girl caused. </p><p>Hours later, when it was already dark and everyone was in their rooms, Pandora went down tiptoeing. She had refused the group dinner, still nervous, scared and feeling more out of place than ever. She was leaning in front of the fridge, hidden by its door, she searched for the ingredients needed to placate the monster that roared in her stomach. </p><p>"Are you the special girl?"</p><p>Pandora jumped, covering her mouth with her hand to contain the scream that almost escaped and slammed the refrigerator door. Morgan had snuck into the kitchen behind her, she heard Pandora's footsteps and couldn't sleep either because her belly was betraying her as well. She was barefoot, clinging to a teddy bear and her long dark-brown hair just like her father's a mess everywhere, a bald expression on her face. The girl wasn't in the living room earlier that day. </p><p>"Dunno, am I?"</p><p>Morgan laughs, her sweet eyes don't fear the stranger. </p><p>"Momma told me". </p><p>"Well, if she say so, then maybe I am", Pandora smiles, kneeling down to equal her size. Morgan stretches her small fingers up to her face and gently pushes the unruly strands that are covering her eyes. "What are you doing up? It's almost eleven."</p><p>"I'm hungry". </p><p>Pandora tilts her head slightly and gives her a short nod, narrowing her eyes. She lifts the little girl, holding her by the sides, and places her on the counter. </p><p>"Looks like somebody needs a sandwich, then". </p><p>Morgan claps her hands excitedly, an animated smile spreading across her face. She swung her legs carefree in the air as she watched Pandora's nimble hands assemble the snack. Of all things she knew, she was proud of her sandwiches as they were the best thing she learned to do her whole life. Cutting in half, she handed one plate to Morgan and started eating hers. The child let out a happy growl that dissolved into a bubbly laugh as soon as she tasted it. Not even her mother's sandwich was that good. Pandora laughed and looked down, concentrating in her plate. All she could think of was about packing a backpack with some clothes and scaping in the dead of night, but now, with Morgan awake, she doubted she would make it. </p><p>"That looks good". </p><p>For the second time that night, Pandora had to hold back a scream. Morgan just shrugged, she had already noticed the silent presence reading in the dim lamp light when she walked in. Pandora closes her eyes for a moment, her heat pounding against the ribcage.</p><p>"Jesus, Barnes! A warning would be nice", Bucky laughs and get up from the armchair to walk towards the kitchen, he leans on the counter and pokes Morgan's cheek, wich is full on both sides making her look like a squirrel stocking up on food. "You hungry too?"</p><p>"Kinda".</p><p>Pandora nods and builds another sandwich, this one with the double filling because, in her mind, Bucky is a big guy and needs enough nutrients to keep his energies up. She sighed softly, feeling his stare burn holes in the back of her neck as if he was analyzing her. </p><p>"There you go". </p><p>Bucky bites off a generous piece while looking deep into Pandora's eyes, chews slowly and after a pause for suspense, he closes his eyes and groans. For some reason, the sight of him genuinely enjoying something that she did made her shiver. </p><p>"This is the best sandwich I've ever had". </p><p>"Momma was right, she is special", Morgan comments innocently. Pandora strokes her hair and then turns to clean up the mess she made. After asking Bucky to tuck Morgan back in bed for her because she was too tired to even talk — bullshit —, she heads back to the dorm.</p><p>In her bedroom, she was sitting on the windowsill. One leg dangled outside while she hugged the other to support her head. The cold wind blew her hair and made her skin shiver. Only when she heard the heavy footsteps echoing away that she knew the path to the exit was clear. She decided to leave in the next night, so she tought it was smart to get a good night of sleep and went under the covers. </p><p>Bucky was still awake. Pandora had awakened old memories that he almost forgot, and now he was martyring himself once again for being weak and easily manipulated at that time. He was comfortable in his bed, continuing his reading and concentrating to not let images of a Pandora with her guard down in front of a child take over his thoughts when he heard the scream. Not exactly a scream, but a loud cry. Sam put her room there precisely, knowing that Bucky was a light sleeper and that he would wake up in case she had another crisis. </p><p>He jumped out of bed and ran to her room, not bothering to knock on the door. The girl was writhing on the bed, the sheets a mess tangling all around her. Her forehead and neck were sprayed with sweat and a painfull expression filled her features that made Bucky even more worried. He sat at the edge of the bed and held her shoulders against the mattress to stop her struggle. She murmured incoherent words about people around her and as soon as she felt his hands on her body, she covered them with her own like she didn't want the familiar touch to vanish. Bucky called her name once, twice, in the third time she woke up and stared at him with wide eyes. </p><p>"B-bucky?!" Thick tears were streaming down her cheeks. His heart flinched at the way she called him, it was the first time she called him by his nickname.  </p><p>"It's me, doll. Everything's okay now, you're safe". </p><p>She was shaking from head to toe. Bucky pulled her into a tight hug and felt her body relax almost immediately, her intense sobs making her chest hurt. She let herself lost in the smell and warmth of safety for a while, forgetting her fear and her hesitation. He rested his chin on top of her head and stroked her back just as Sam had done a week earlier. They spent a few minutes like that until her breath start to steady again.</p><p>"It was just a bad dream, nobody can hurt you now. You know that, right?" Bucky can feel her nod against his skin, he could also feel how strong her fingers were tugging to his shirt. He asked Friday to play his personal playlist to help her calm down, the one he used to play for himself in nights like this. After her fright passed, he tucked her back under the blanket as she observed the crease between his eyebrows, as if her nightmares bothered him more than she did herself. </p><p>When Bucky got up and started to leave, Pandora leaned over and held his shirt with her fingertips. "Wait! I..." She swallowed and looked up at him. "Can you stay? Wait for me to sleep before you go?"</p><p>Bucky's shoulders tensed and then relaxed and he nodded, going around the bed, he sat against the headboard. She got under the covers again and left only part of her face out, enough to look at him. Soon, her eyelids heaved and dropped. Bucky stayed for a little longer than he expected, watching her calm countenance, her shoulders slowly rising and falling under the blanket. The room was cold, but her cheeks were flushed from the recent turmoil. He smiled and turned off the lamp he had switched on just before. Now, only the moonlight seeped trough the window, casting it's shadows on the bed. It didn't take long before he felt his own eyes heavy and fell asleep right there.</p><p>...</p><p>After two hours, he woke up startled, his body suddenly remembered where he was. He got surprised when he found Pandora sleeping in the exact same position as before, but now part of the blanket covered him too, keeping him warm. Bucky shook his head and stood up, covering her body a little better and left the room. He wanted to understand what that new sensation was, that desire, that... Need that he had to keep her safe. As if the years he spent mistreating her were all surfacing again. </p><p>He didn't like the images that went trough his head when she was close, but he also felt indebted to her because, as much as he hurted her, after all, she was the one who took care of him when everyone treated him like nothing. After the pairings, when he was hurt and almost unconscious, they would threw him like trash back in his cage. Pandora waited for everyone to be distracted and used her powers to go unnoticed and help him. She had been kind to him when all he did was try to kill her.</p><p>And that was killing him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Is my first official fic, please leave a feedback comment bellow and feel free to leave kudos or not. Thanks for reading ❤️</p></blockquote></div></div>
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